Christmas potluck - Wasabi Potato Salad

A favorite recipe of mine 

Christmas potluck - salad

Happy Mothers' Day

Mothers' Day gathering. 

We bought the sweet sour pork, hae zho and braised beancurd/vege. 

And added on these from our kitchen :

- cold prawn cocktail salad

- omelette

- boiled Chye sim and roast pork to add on to the braised dish 

- steamed chicken contributed by mom!

- canned aloe Vera in honey

- durian puffs

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Cold prawn cocktail salad 

- mango

- red grapes

- nam shui pear

- Japanese mayo

- lettuce

- prawns

Mustard slaw

Finely slice half white onion. Grate 500g carrots. Shred 1 small white cabbage. Mix all with 2 tbsp mayo, 1 tbsp Dijon mustard and 2 tsp mustard seeds.

Lettuce salad with blue cheese dressing

250g bacon, cut up and cooked till crisp
100g blue cheese
125g sour cream
3tbs mayonnaise
2-3tbs lemon juice
2 heads of iceberg lettuce, quartered
2 stalks spring onion
Some plain yogurt, to taste

For the dressing, crumble blue cheese into a bowl. Add sour cream, yogurt and mayo. Mix. Add lemon juice, to taste.

Plate the quartered lettuce and spoon dressing atop. Scatter bacon and spring onion.

Fusili with walnut pesto

I've always loved pesto. My first taste of it was in Amsterdam (back in 1997!) where I was backpacking with 5 others, and we stayed at this B&B place. The owner 'kindly' offered 'homemade' dinner for us at a charge, and promised roast chicken. We think the roast chicken was bought from the supermarket. The rice he cooked was too wet and mushy, and he served the meal with pesto, and raw onions(?). But the pesto went really well with the hot steaming rice, and I've loved the taste since. However as some of you might know, bottled pesto is really pricey here, which is why I don't take it often. It is also pricey to make at home, considering that pine nuts and fresh basil leaves don't come cheap.

So I was glad to learn this walnut-based pesto recipe from a 'Healthy Cooking Class' conducted at my workplace sometime back. At least walnuts are cheaper. I tried the recipe out at home, with slight modifications.

Walnut Pesto (makes 2 cups)

• 1 cup walnuts, toasted
• 4 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated*
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil, or more if you like
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Blend the walnuts, basil, cheese and garlic in a food processor, until finely chopped
2. Pour in chicken stock, and olice oil and blend to a smooth consistency
3. Add salt & pepper to taste
4. Yields 2 cup portions. 1 cup is sufficient for 2 persons. Store** the other portion in the fridge for another day(to use within the week***)

* I used Cheddar as I couldn't get Parmesan cheese. (please do not substitute with mozarella !)
**When storing in a glass bottle for use on another day, top off the pesto with a thin layer of olive oil to keep fresh
*** You can use Pesto over hot steaming rice - yummy !

Fusili Pasta with Walnut Pesto (2 servings)

• Fusili (200g), boiled for 8 mins or till al dente
• Thai baby asparagus (cut into sections, and blanched) (or broccoli, blanched first)
• Chicken breast meat#
• Plain Yogurt (1 cup) (optional but gives a yummier and creamier taste)

1. Warm the pesto in a pan (no need to add oil)
2. Add asparagus and pasta. Mix & combine well
3. Add salt & pepper to taste
4. Top off with chicken meat, and some grated cheese

# Season the meat with salt & pepper and cook till golden brown on a hot griddle or pan. When done, slice & set aside. Instead of chicken breast meat, I topped off my pasta with some roasted garlic teriyaki wings. A good delicious option would be roast chicken from the supermarket - just shred the meat and toss. 

Let's get started with toasted walnuts

Blending the pesto to a smooth paste

Homemade Pesto!

Ready to eat

Wasabi Potato Salad

Here's a recipe I adapted from My Little Cyberspot. It's simple, yet delicious. I did this for a Christmas potluck with some friends and kids, and I had promised to bring along some potato salad.

In went 3 medium-sized boiled potatoes, 8 prawns boiled and cut into chunky halves, 2 boiled eggs, Kewpie Japanese mayo (to taste), black pepper, chopped spring onions and about 1 finger length of Wasabi paste (I used the tube kind, thus the measurement in 'length'). I also added 1 Japanese cucumber chopped up into cubes for the c-c-c-c-runch. It was a nice combi of creaminess, spicy zing and sweetness. I think it still lacked some tartness, so I could perhaps add some chopped up gherkin-pickles next time.

Too much carbo right? And I must have my meat. So I panfried some fillet of chicken breast, marinated with teriyaki sauce. This was eaten alongside the potato salad.
Good good ... ^-^

Chicken salad with yogurt dressing

Ingredients

Dressing,

• 200g plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp finely chopped spring onion
• 1.5 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar or to taste
• 1.5 tsp granulated chicken stock (optional)
• 1.5 tsp ground white pepper

Salad,

• 4 cups mixed greens
• 2 cups shredded roast chicken meat
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced

Method

1. Mix ingredients for dressing well and set aside
2. in another bowl, combine the salad ingredients
3. add dressing, toss well and serve immediately